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Saudi PIF Partners with FIFA for 2025 Club World Cup

FILE PHOTO: The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 winners trophy is displayed in Times Square ahead of the tournament featuring 32 teams and 63 matches, spread across 12 stadiums in 11 US cities in June and July, in New York City, US, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 winners trophy is displayed in Times Square ahead of the tournament featuring 32 teams and 63 matches, spread across 12 stadiums in 11 US cities in June and July, in New York City, US, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
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Saudi PIF Partners with FIFA for 2025 Club World Cup

FILE PHOTO: The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 winners trophy is displayed in Times Square ahead of the tournament featuring 32 teams and 63 matches, spread across 12 stadiums in 11 US cities in June and July, in New York City, US, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 winners trophy is displayed in Times Square ahead of the tournament featuring 32 teams and 63 matches, spread across 12 stadiums in 11 US cities in June and July, in New York City, US, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and world football association FIFA have announced PIF as an official partner of FIFA Club World Cup 2025, which will take place in the United States from June 14 to July 13.

The partnership reflects the shared vision of FIFA and PIF to enable greater participation in sports by unlocking new opportunities, fostering innovation, and engaging fans around the world. With a focus on youth, the partnership will provide opportunities for young people, supporting FIFA in its efforts to engage and inspire at a grassroots level.

The new FIFA Club World Cup 2025 marks a fresh chapter for professional club football on the global stage. It will feature 32 of the world’s top football clubs, bringing together champions from all six FIFA confederations for a month-long tournament in 11 cities across the United States.

Football is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia and globally. The Saudi public will follow the tournament, where Al-Hilal Club participates as a representative of the Asian continent.

“We are delighted to welcome PIF as a partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™,” said FIFA chief business officer Romy Gai. “Together, we look forward to delivering a historic tournament that inspires and unites fans from around the world.”

“The partners of the first-ever 32-team FIFA Club World Cup believe in our vision to make football truly global. Their support of the tournament will not only be integral to its success but will underpin investment in supporting the development of club football everywhere,” Gai said.

PIF head of corporate brand Mohammed AlSayyad said: “PIF is creating a legacy of transformative impact in sports including through its partnerships, delivering positive and lasting results at every level, from players and fans to host communities.”

“PIF is at the forefront of growing football around the world following our CONCACAF partnership announced last year and our continued investment in football. We are unlocking opportunities to drive the growth of the sport around the world,” AlSayyad said.

Football plays a crucial role in the ongoing transformation of Saudi Arabia, and as host of the FIFA World Cup 2034, reinforces the country’s ambition to grow the game globally, create new opportunities for all, and extend its benefits in Saudi Arabia and every part of the world for generations to come.

The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will be played in 12 stadiums across 11 US host cities. The 63-match tournament will culminate with what promises to be a spectacular final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, just outside of New York City, on July 13, when the FIFA club world champion will be crowned.

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Fan Group Urges FIFA to Halt World Cup Ticket Sales over 'Extortionate' Prices

A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson
A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson
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Fan Group Urges FIFA to Halt World Cup Ticket Sales over 'Extortionate' Prices

A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson
A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson

Football Supporters Europe (FSE) has called on FIFA to immediately halt sales of national team allocations for next year's World Cup, accusing football's governing body of imposing "extortionate" ticket prices that risk shutting ordinary fans out of the tournament.

In a statement on Thursday, the European fan umbrella group said prices for tickets allocated to Participating Member Associations (PMAs) – typically distributed via official supporters' clubs or loyalty schemes – had reached "astronomical" levels, Reuters reported.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FSE said based on price tables quietly circulated to national associations, a supporter following their team from the first group match through to the final via the PMA route would pay at least $6,900, almost five times the equivalent cost at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

FSE said national team supporters were being asked to pay the full amount in early 2026 in order to secure the right to buy tickets all the way to the final.

Adding to fans' frustration, FSE said the lowest price category – Category 4 – would not be made available to the most loyal supporters through their associations, with FIFA reserving those tickets for general public sales and subjecting them to dynamic pricing.

The group called that decision a "monumental betrayal" of World Cup tradition and of the contribution of traveling supporters to the tournament's atmosphere.

"For the prices that have been put up by FIFA, we're a bit stunned," FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain told Reuters.

"This is a handful of people who are trying to make as much money as possible from the tournament. And we believe this approach is putting the very nature of the tournament at risk."

"For the final, tickets are going up to about $4,000. You need fans, you need the life in the stands, you need the colour, you need the atmosphere. With these prices, none of this will happen," he said.

For the first time at a World Cup, FSE said, there will be no consistent prices across all group-stage games, with FIFA instead introducing variable pricing based on opaque notions such as the "attractiveness" of a fixture.

That means fans of different teams could pay different amounts for the same category of ticket at the same stage, with little transparency on how prices are set.

Evain said the new structure would push many ordinary fans beyond what they can afford, particularly families.

"A lot of people that were hesitating in travelling to the U.S. are now saying they need to take an extraordinary financial risk, especially if you're a family," he said.

"We are in the region of $30,000 for a family of four. The vast majority of football fans can't afford this. Even in Europe."

FSE urged FIFA to pause PMA ticket sales and open consultations with member associations, supporters' groups and other stakeholders "until a solution that respects the tradition, universality and cultural significance of the World Cup is found."

Sports

French Player Folliot Suspended for 20 Years over Match-fixing

Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco
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French Player Folliot Suspended for 20 Years over Match-fixing

Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco

French player Quentin Folliot has been suspended for 20 years for committing 27 breaches of tennis's anti-corruption program, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Thursday.

Folliot was a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate, an ITIA investigation found, and is the sixth player to be sanctioned as a result.

Folliot's career-high ranking was 488th, according to the ATP, and he earned prize money of $60,047 in singles and doubles.

The Frenchman denied 30 charges relating to 11 matches between 2022 and 2024, eight of which he played in, and an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer, Amani Khalifa, upheld 27 of the charges in October.

Khalifa's written decision said the 26-year-old Folliot was "a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours".

Folliot, who was provisionally suspended in May 2024, has also been fined $70,000 and ordered to repay corrupt payments totaling more than $44,000, Reuters reported.

Time served under the provisional suspension was credited against his period of ineligibility meaning Folliot's ban will end on May 16 2044, subject to repayment of outstanding fines.

Sports

Morocco Pick Hakimi, Confident He Will be Ready for Cup of Nations

Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
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Morocco Pick Hakimi, Confident He Will be Ready for Cup of Nations

Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo

Hosts Morocco have included African Footballer of the Year Achraf Hakimi in their 26-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, confident he will recover from an ankle injury in time to play.

There had been concern about the full back's availability for the tournament, which kicks off on December 21, after suffering a severe sprain of his left ankle during Paris St Germain's 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last month, according to Reuters.

Coach Walid Regragui had already expressed optimism that Hakimi would be available to captain the team in the opening match against Comoros in Rabat.

"He's been working hard since his injury and doing what he has to do. He's a hard worker. He wants to be there from the first match," the Moroccan coach told French radio at the weekend.

Left out of the squad, but named as a reserve is Lille striker Hamza Igamane, who hurt his adductors playing against Olympique de Marseille last Friday.

Igamane has made a major impact in Ligue 1 and with the Morocco side and was expected to be a starter at the tournament for the hosts.

Morocco, who were semi-finalists at the last World Cup and are heavily fancied for home success, also take on Mali and Zambia in Group A.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Munir El Kajoui (Renaissance Berkane), El Mehdi Al Harrar (Raja Casablanca)

Defenders: Nayef Aguerd (Olympique de Marseille), Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal (Stade Rennais), Mohamed Chibi (Pyramids), Jawad El Yamiq (Al Najma), Achraf Hakimi (Paris St Germain), Adam Masina (Torino), Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Romain Saiss (Al Sadd), Anass Salah-Eddine (PSV Eindhoven)

Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Bayer Leverkusen), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid), Neil El Aynaoui (AS Roma), Bilal El Khannous (VfB Stuttgart), Azzedine Ounahi (Girona), Oussama Targhaline (Feyenoord)

Forwards: Ilias Akhomach (Villarreal), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiakos), Youssef En-Nesyri (Fenerbahce), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland).